An agricultural harvester such as a combine includes a head and a feeder housing which remove the crop material from the field, gather the crop material and transport the crop material to a separator. The separator removes the grain crop material from the non-grain crop material. The grain is cleaned and deposited in a grain tank. When the grain tank becomes full, an unloading auger which is positioned alongside the combine during harvesting is moved to the unloading position in which the auger extends approximately perpendicular the longitudinal axis of the combine. The combine drives alongside a vehicle into which the grain is to be unloaded, such as a semi-trailer, and the unloading auger is actuated to discharge the grain into the vehicle.
A trend in agricultural machines is for the size of the machines to become larger. One example is the width of the head (such as a bean head) on a combine. Since the combine drives alongside the vehicle into which the grain is to be unloaded, and a larger head means that the body of the combine is a further distance from the vehicle, the length of the auger must also be increased.
It is known to provide a folding unloading auger including an inner auger which folds alongside the combine, and an outer auger which folds around the rear of the combine and rests in a cradle during use. A folding unloading auger prevents the auger from extending an undesirable distance behind the combine when not used during unloading. The outer auger is manually removed from the cradle and moved to the unfolded and engaged position for an unloading operation. The outer auger is locked relative to the inner auger in the unfolded position using a manually operable latch arrangement.
What is needed in the art is a folding unloading auger which can be automatically moved between a folded and unfolded position, is held in the desired position, and positively engages the outer auger at a desired orientation.